December 4, 2025

George and Gwen Bondon are Galilee members who have long supported holiday giving in their community. In recent years, they’ve raised money and collected gifts for the Toys for Tots program. This year, they took a different approach.

“Normally, we have focused on toys,” Gwen said. “This year, we wanted to support more fundamental needs, and we wanted to work with the church. We wanted to bring the church more into the community and the community into the church.”

The Bondons live very near Lansdowne Woods, so it was natural for them to work with The Chapel to  organize a community food drive to benefit Backpack Buddies. “Folks were very generous,” George explained. “We raised $3,000 from neighbors and collected a large quantity of groceries.”

A large quantity, indeed! The Bondon’s community effort will provide 150 food bags to families participating in the Backpack Buddies program through Loudoun County Public Schools, with distributions scheduled before the Christmas holiday.

On Monday, Pastors Mike and Steve collected the food from The Chapel, and from George and Gwen’s garage, using our recently purchased second church bus. Director of Serve Ministries, Felicia Johnson, organized volunteers to pack the donations into Family Break Bags on Wednesday. “We put everything together with friends and neighbors who volunteered,” George said. 

Gwen emphasized the community’s generosity in this regard. “It’s wonderful that people give of their time, too. Thank you to everyone for supporting the Christmas food drive.”

Through the combined efforts of neighbors, Galilee members, and volunteers, the Bondons have helped make the Christmas season brighter for local families, while strengthening connections between the church and the community. Thank you, George and Gwen!